Beaded Necklace Workshop

Libbie Coulson is running a beaded necklace workshop at Hotwalls Studios on Saturday 15 August, and if you've never tried your hand at jewellery making, this is a good place to start. It's held in Studio 8, one of the arches at Point Battery in Old Portsmouth, and it's pitched as a mindful, welcoming space for beginners and jewellery lovers to learn a new skill and connect with others.

The session runs for an hour and a half to two hours. Libbie starts by showing you how to finish a necklace securely, so you've got the technical bit out of the way before you get to the creative part. From there, you pick your own colours and design a piece that reflects your own style, working with high-quality Czech fire-polished beads and Miyuki bugle beads, all finished with a sterling silver clasp. All the materials are provided, and you don't need any previous experience to join in.

The setting has its own story to it. Hotwalls Studios occupies a row of old, rarely used arches at Point Battery, a site that once defended the city against invasion and has hosted Sunday art sales since the late 1950s, before Portsmouth City Council turned it into a creative quarter in 2014. Libbie herself runs the label '26th of May' and has recently released a new collection titled Lost Cove.

It's £75 for the session, and you'll leave with a finished necklace to wear or give as a handmade gift. The workshop is on Saturday 15 August at Hotwalls Studio 8, Broad Street, Old Portsmouth.